He was everything she had ever dreamed of.
Liam Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, has opened up about the former One Direction singer’s shocking death.
In her first interview since Payne’s sudden passing last October, Cassidy, 25, shared heart-wrenching details about how she learned that the star died, admitting she “completely blacked out.”
“I feel blessed I didn’t find out over social media because I just couldn’t even imagine that,” Cassidy told The Sun. “I was in our home with our dog, scrolling TikTok and one of Liam’s friends called me.”
But she can remember very little else of what happened after she picked up the call.
Liam Payne and Katie Cassidy attend The Fashion Awards 2022 pre-ceremony drinks at the Royal Albert Hall on December 05, 2022 in London, England.Getty Images for BFC
“That moment, it’s like, blank; it’s blacked out in my head,” she shared. “I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just a rumor. Or something that somebody made up just to get views. Then instantly I just had a bad feeling in my gut. I was like, ‘Why would somebody make this up? Is this true?’”
Cassidy admitted, “And I feel like I just completely blacked out. When I officially found the news out to be true, I felt numb. I tried to call him. I called pretty much everybody.”
“Then I was in touch with his family, and my mum got the first flight out to be with me. I remember pacing around the house — [our] poor [dog] Nala thought I was trying to play, she kept jumping up at me. I didn’t sleep at all that night.”
Kate Cassidy and Liam Payne in an Aug 29, 2023 Instagram post.Instagram/kateecass
While she can’t remember their last phone conversation, she said his cell still rang when she called it after learning the horrific news.
The last photo she took of Liam shows him horseback riding on her last morning in Argentina. “He looks so happy,” she said of the snap.
The influencer left the country two days before Payne tragically fell from the balcony of his third-floor Buenos Aires suite. The cause of death was “polytrauma” and “an internal and external hemorrhage,” according to local officials. Five people have been charged in connection with Payne’s death over allegedly acquiring and supplying him with drugs.
The star was 31.
A photo of Liam Payne shared on his Snapchat the day he died.
Liam Payne died in Argentina last October.Liam Payne/Instagram
Cassidy’s final text to Payne referred to Halloween decorations she had installed in their home as a surprise. “I can’t wait for you to get home and see the house,” she wrote.
“Love is so optimistic, and you just hope that everything will work out at the end. Obviously if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina,” she said.
Addressing questions about why she traveled back to the couple’s rented Florida home without Payne, Cassidy explained she left to take care of their dog.
Liam Payne and Kate Cassidy, seen here in May 2024, started dating in 2022.Instagram/kateecass
“Obviously if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina,” Cassidy said.Instagram/kateecass
“I had a responsibility, we had a responsibility,” she said. “We had our dog and obviously I never, ever thought this event would occur.”
“It was a tragic accident and no, I never did think [he might die young]. But, you know, we did have our own separate lives — this wasn’t the first time we have travelled separately.”
Though she only met him in 2022 while working as a server in a Charleston, South Carolina, restaurant, Cassidy confessed, “I’ve loved Liam Payne since I was 10.”
Kate Cassidy arrives to attend the funeral service of the late One Direction singer Liam Payne, at St Mary’s church in Amersham, west of London on November 20, 2024.AFP via Getty Images
“From the moment I met Liam, I genuinely believed we were soulmates; he was the most humble, charming, normal person you could ever hope to come across, and genuinely one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Cassidy also said their love story was a “fairytale romance,” and she planned to marry Payne.
Asked about the former One Directioner’s reported drug relapse before his death — drug paraphernalia was found in the singer’s hotel room — Cassidy said, “With addiction, you just never know when it’s going to come out.”
A photo from Liam Payne’s Buenos Aires hotel room taken by police after his death..
“I supported Liam through thick and thin, and I always just loved his soul. I always wanted to be there for him. I genuinely always really did try to do anything I could do to help.”
“I just did what I could do, and what I could manage to do,” she went on. “Liam was in such a good headspace when I left Argentina. We were in such a great place, just full of love; he was so happy and positive. And I just can’t even believe the way things truly ended.”
Cassidy shared her interview in a post on her Instagram story.kateecass/Instagram
Still shell-shocked, Cassidy said, “It’s genuinely insane to me how things can just be taken away from you so quickly in life, you never truly know what tomorrow will bring, you never know.”
In an Instagram story linking to her interview, the influencer wrote, “The past few months have been truly heartbreaking. I keep hoping I’ll wake up and this was all just a bad dream. Most days I feel numb and broken. The weight of it all feels unbearable.”
“However, after receiving thousands of messages from Liam’s fans seeking clarity during this devastating time, I wanted to share an insight into the relationship with the love of my life,” Cassidy added. “This is my first ever interview while I navigate the pain of losing Liam, so please bear with me as I share my experience, which I hope will be received with compassion and understanding.”
She concluded, “Thank you so much for your kindness and support. It means more than I can put into words.”
